IAG group airline Vueling has expanded its network from London Gatwick Airport. The Spanish carrier will add five new routes from the south London airport. With five more routes, the airline will have a dozen routes from the English capital to Spain, France, and Italy.

London Gatwick Airport has undergone tremendous changes during the pandemic. At the height of the COVID-19 crisis, daily arrivals at the airport were in the single figures. Things are starting to improve with the return of Emirates' Airbus A380. Virgin Atlantic pulled out of the airport, and Vueling sister British Airways is launching a new carrier at the facility.

Five new routes

Yesterday, Vueling revealed that it would be increasing its network at London Gatwick Airport this summer. Five new routes will be launched, seeing the Spanish carrier's Airbus A320 family fleet flying to Seville, Granada, Malaga, La Coruña, and Menorca. The routes to Malaga, Seville, and La Coruña will launch on April 1st, with Mahon in Menorca and Granada following the next day.

Vueling, London Gatwick, Airbus A320
The new routes (red) will compliment Vueling's existing London Gatwick network. Photo: Cirium

With the launch of these five routes, Vueling will have 12 flights from London Gatwick to Spain, France, and Italy, giving 24 routes from the United Kingdom. The other 12 routes are split across six more UK airports, such as Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.

Commenting on the launch, the airline's Chief Commercial, Strategy, and Network Officer, Carolyn Prowse, remarked,

“We are very proud to announce the development of our international network from London Gatwick thanks to the coordination with British Airways which enables us to offer the best joint product from London to help grow our markets. This is particularly true after two very difficult years for tourism and aviation.”

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IAG's London Gatwick presence

At the end of 2021, IAG's future at London Gatwick Airport was uncertain. British Airways has been losing money on short-haul at London Gatwick since before the pandemic started, and the suspension of operations allowed the airline to take stock of its situation.

British Airways will soon resume flights at the airport, with the aim of transferring them across to a new subsidiary on a separate AOC. BA EuroFlyer will operate with lower costs, allowing the carrier to be more competitive against the low-cost carriers competing on the same routes.

British Airways A320 moody sky
Photo: Getty Images

When British Airways revealed that it would stop flying from Gatwick, it said that it would look at the full range of options for using its slots. After all, with the use it or lose it rules, they can't hold on to them forever while not flying. At the time, some had theorized that BA could transfer some to IAG's other carriers instead of handing them over to competitors.

What do you make of Vueling's London Gatwick expansion plan? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!